FREE EVENT: ‘There’s No Therapy Without Safety’ with Trevor Rocca... Vagus Adventures: Polyvagal Theory Meets Practice Masterclass Series
USD$49
I invite you to join me live on Zoom for the first of a series of Master classes exploring the edges of Polyvagal theory and practice. In this series we dig into three key areas of Addiction, Spirituality, and Psychotherapy/Coaching on January 17, 24, and 31, 2025, (Fridays) 12pm – 1:30pm ET.
As more and more folks become familiar with Polyvagal theory in the mental health field, we are gaining a better understanding of the nervous system’s role in the body. However, as we share our experiences and explore various contexts, many are questioning and challenging different interpretations of the theory. This is an exciting moment for our work!
That’s why I am launching the first of many Master Classes where I will share with you my latest thoughts and experiences. If you have watched my Embodied Dialogue Series you will know that I am on a mission to share my journey with all of you, so you have front row seats to the amazingly gifted people in our healing community. As a core teacher at the Polyvagal Institute I have access to new ideas and wonderful people, people who are warm hearted, intelligent and committed to bringing safety into the world. In these new Master Classes you will have time to explore, ask questions and share your knowledge with me and my guests. We want your input! Let’s keep developing this amazing work that we do!
Be At The Forefront of Polyvagal Theory
An esteemed educational partner at the Polyvagal Institute, Jan Winhall’s direct line of communication with Founder of Polyvagal Theory, Dr. Porges, ensures that she is aware of the latest updates to the theory. This includes new insights that are both accurate to our latest understanding of the theory, as well as transformative in applying the theory in practice.
Combined with her deep understanding of the nuances of this groundbreaking framework, Jan Winhall is well positioned to facilitate the following 3 masterclasses that will help to further bridge the gap between theory and practical application in the key areas Spirituality, Psychotherapy/Coaching, and Addiction
Get ~14% OFF when you register for all 3 masterclasses
The REPLAY recordings are INCLUDED with your purchase.
They will also be available to post-event purchasers for the same price.
On purchase, you also gain access to the discussion forum on the FSPM Learning Circle where you can post comments or questions ahead of the event and engage with others.
This Masterclass Series is a must for therapists and coaches and those who wish to actively explore the edges of where Polyvagal Theory meets practice and thereby take part in the latest understanding and application of this important work.
Spirituality Meets Neuroscience Through a Polyvagal Lens
Jan Winhall & Marika Heinrichs
Many in the trauma field recognize that individuals, especially in the Western world, have become disconnected from their bodies. But do you know how this disconnection occurred?
Marika Heinrichs wildbody.ca will share with us some fascinating stories about how white people were coerced into distancing themselves from their bodies and from the land around them.
Feeling Safe in Our Bodies is Essential For Healing
The split between our mind/body and spirit started when the predominant culture pushed communities away from working together and towards being more controlling and competitive.
To rebuild a culture that values relationships, we need to face the deep wounds caused by our separation from nature and our spiritual selves. These issues are at the heart of our feelings of isolation and individualism. If we don’t tackle the cultural and political systems that support this isolation, our attempts to heal individually won’t be very effective.
Reconnecting to Body-Based Spiritual Practices
We all come from cultures that once engaged in body-based spiritual practices such as chanting, prostration, and trance-inducing dance. Understanding these practices within their cultural and spiritual contexts reveals their intention: to deepen the practitioner’s connection with the more-than-human world. Many contemporary contemplative and somatic practices are rooted in these traditions, though their origins often remain unacknowledged.
Losing Cultural Connection
For some, a connection to these ancient practices feels lost or forgotten. Others face the threat of denigration and appropriation of these sacred traditions. At the heart of systems of violence or domination lies a systematic effort to disconnect our bodies from relationships with the earth, spirit, and each other.
Finding Reconnection in Somatics
Somatics serves as a pathway to remember our inherent relationship with body, spirit, and land. However, contemporary somatic practices are frequently stripped of their cultural and spiritual origins. Our bodies can guide us back to an embodied form of spirituality, reminding us of our interconnectedness with all life—something we urgently need as a species.
Expanding Consciousness Through Somatic Healing
Engaging in somatic healing opens our consciousness to new forms of perception and insight that may not have been previously accessible. This can lead to what some refer to as an altered or expanded state of consciousness.
Insights from Stephen Porges
In his article “Ancient Rituals, Contemplative Practices, and Vagal Pathways,” Stephen Porges explains how ritual practices like chanting, meditation, and prostration can directly regulate the vagus nerve, calming our defense systems. This regulation fosters an expanded sense of connectedness and an “unbound sense of oneness.”
The Mystery of Connection and Healing
As we soften our bodies’ defensive states and cultivate presence and connection, the separation between our individual selves and the wider web of aliveness begins to dissolve. What emerges from this space is not something we can fully control or comprehend; it is a realm of mystery and flow, crucial for healing from trauma associated with separation and isolation.
Masterclass Overview
This masterclass will explore an embodied approach to spirituality through a cultural and polyvagal lens. We will examine the forces that have contributed to our disconnection from the natural world and the impacts on our embodied states of consciousness. Participants will also learn about polyvagal-informed strategies for remapping their way back to connection with land and spirit.
About Marika Heinrichs
Marika Heinrichs (she/her) is a queer somatic therapist and educator whose practice focuses on the recovery of ancestral wisdom through body-based ways of knowing as a pathway for people of European descent to divest and unwind from domination and supremacy. Her people come from Ukraine, Germany, Britain and Ireland. Marika was born, raised, and lives on Dish with One Spoon treaty territory in so-called Guelph, Canada.
Visit: https://wildbody.ca/
As some of you may know Marika is also my daughter! This will be the second of our joint explorations into the world of felt sensing and polyvagal theory.
The REPLAY recordings are INCLUDED with your purchase.
They will also be available to post-event purchasers for the same price.
Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching: The Vagus Nerve Keeps the Score
Jan Winhall & Travis Goodman
Are You Ready to Engage in a Fresh Approach? Join us in this vital conversation that challenges traditional approaches and reshapes your understanding of mental health and addiction. Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy offers an innovative framework for understanding and facilitating healing. By integrating insights from polyvagal theory into our practices, we can provide more effective, compassionate care that honors the complexities of human connection and the body’s role in emotional well-being. Together, we will explore the revolutionary implications of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model and its application in psychotherapy and coaching, paving the way for a more integrated and holistic practice.
Entering into Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching
Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching represents a transformative approach to understanding and practicing therapy. By incorporating insights from polyvagal theory, therapists can deepen their practice, fostering a more holistic healing environment that recognizes the significant role of the vagus nerve in emotional regulation and social connection.
Breaking Free from Old Paradigms! Be Bold in Your Practice
Have you ever wondered how traditional Western models of individual therapy hold up when we incorporate concepts like co-regulation, social engagement, and the crucial role of community building? Let’s challenge the norm! In this masterclass, we will explore how our practices in psychotherapy and coaching can transform when we adopt a polyvagal-informed approach. We will examine how integrating concepts like co-regulation, social engagement, and community building can strengthen therapeutic outcomes.
Key Questions for Reflection
We will examine important questions such as:
- Are we providing our clients with enough opportunities to develop co-regulation skills?
- Is our focus on individual therapy inadvertently promoting feelings of isolation?
- What are your thoughts on group work as a more effective treatment modality through the lens of polyvagal theory?
- Where does coaching end and psychotherapy begin? How are they similar and different?
- Do coaches only focus on the present while psychotherapists focus on the past?
- Polyvagal theory recognizes that bodies particularly stuck in dorsal states often need to move. Polyvagal-Informed Psychotherapy and Coaches would find themselves going for a walk with a client. What would your college say about doing therapy in a park?
- The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model promotes healing in focusing partnerships. What do you think about pairing your clients in focusing partnerships as a way of enhancing coregulation?
Radical Shift in Healing Approaches
Polyvagal-informed healing represents a significant shift from conventional cognitive-only approaches. This method emphasizes the connection between mind and body, creating pathways for healing that integrate both top-down (cognitive) and bottom-up (somatic) processes. By recognizing the body’s inherent wisdom, we move away from the traditional pathologizing model of mental health.
Focusing and working with the Felt Sense is a powerful practice that can significantly influence our physiological state. This approach engages our inner awareness and bodily sensations, which can lead to the activation of the ventral branch of the vagus nerve. When this nerve is activated, it promotes a sense of safety, enhancing our ability to connect with ourselves and others. The ventral vagal tone is crucial for social engagement and emotional regulation, making this practice not only beneficial for individual well-being but also for fostering healthier relationships. By tuning into the Felt Sense, we can create a pathway to deeper emotional understanding and resilience.
Rethinking Assessment and Treatment
What happens when we reject the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and instead focus on somatic assessments? During this workshop, we will introduce Jan’s Embodied Assessment and Treatment Tool, which offers a strength-based approach to therapy. Participants will learn how to apply this tool in their practice, enhancing their ability to support clients on their healing journeys. This tool tracks interoceptive and neuroceptive processes, providing clinicians with a unique and innovative somatic assessment. What are seen as disorders in the pathologizing model are recognized as adaptive survival strategies through the wisdom of the body.
About Travis Goodman
Travis is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Mind+Body Coach. He has been practicing over the past 10 years. He has further expertise, training, and certification in Attachment-Focused EMDR, Polyvagal- Informed Focusing Trainer (PIFOT), Certified Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitator (FSPM), Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Travis is a member of Jan’s FSPM Facilitator team.
Through his video podcast, the Integrated Man Project, Travis invites you to hear and share in journeying towards integration psychologically, physically, socially, and spiritually.
Visit: https://www.youtube.com/travisgoodman
The REPLAY recordings are INCLUDED with your purchase.
They will also be available to post-event purchasers for the same price.
Unraveling the Mystery of Addictions Through the Vagus Nerve
Jan Winhall & Elizabeth Moitz
Introduction to Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Addiction Treatment
Addiction is often framed within the context of a brain disease model, which suggests that changes in the brain are the primary cause of addictive behaviors. However, Polyvagal Theory offers a different perspective that can revolutionize our understanding and treatment of addiction.
Challenging the Brain Disease Model
Understanding Addiction:
- The brain disease model posits that addiction is a result of neurological changes due to substance use. While it is true that addiction can lead to various diseases, this perspective does not address the underlying causes of addiction itself.
- Polyvagal Theory emphasizes the role of the autonomic nervous system in regulating emotional and physiological states. Addictions are seen as state regulation strategies that shift the body from overwhelm to numbing and back again. In this sense addictive behaviors are seen as adaptive responses in maladaptive environments. By focusing on how our nervous system responds to stress and trauma, we can gain insights into why individuals may turn to addictive behaviors as a coping mechanism.
The Role of Safety and Connection:
- According to Polyvagal Theory, feelings of safety and social connection are crucial for healthy self regulation. When individuals feel unsafe or disconnected, they may resort to substances/behaviors as a means of self-soothing or escaping painful feelings.
- This approach suggests that effective treatment should prioritize creating a sense of safety and fostering connections rather than solely addressing the chemical dependency or process addiction.
Updating the 12-Step Model
- How can the 12-Step model be enhanced by our understanding of addiction today?
- Is it important to emphasize powerlessness in addiction recovery?
- In what ways could the reliance on a disease model in the 12-Step program undermine an individual's sense of agency in their healing journey?
- What benefits might arise from adopting a more holistic approach that considers trauma and emotional dysregulation alongside addictive behaviors?
- Where do the 12 Step Program and Polyvagal-Informed Addiction Treatment overflap? What can each approach learn from the other?
- From a Polyvagal perspective, addictions are adaptive behaviors. So how can you call an adaptive behavior a disease?
Moving Towards a More Holistic Approach
Instead of framing addiction as a moral failing or a lifelong disease, Polyvagal-informed treatment advocates for understanding the complex interplay between trauma, emotional dysregulation, and addictive behaviors.
This perspective encourages personalized treatment plans that incorporate somatic therapies, mindfulness practices, and community support to address the root causes of addiction.
Call to Action
Polyvagal-informed addiction treatment introduces a refreshing perspective that invites us to reconsider traditional approaches. It highlights the crucial role that the autonomic nervous system plays in establishing safety in the recovery process. Join us in exploring these controversial ideas further, as we work together to reshape the conversation around addiction treatment for a more supportive and holistic future.
About Elizabeth Moitoza
Elizabeth earned her MSW from Boston College in 1980 and has dedicated her career to supporting clients while continuously pursuing her own professional development. With extensive experience in family and couples therapy, she is certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy and has worked with many couples facing challenges. Additionally, Elizabeth has trained in Internal Family Systems and EMDR to help clients dealing with trauma. Her personal journey includes years of 12-step recovery, which deepened her understanding of addiction. Motivated to enhance her skills in trauma and addiction treatment, she began training with Jan Winhall and was inspired by Winhall’s work on the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, finding the focus on the nervous system and body essential for healing. Elizabeth is a certified Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitator and member of Jan’s teaching team.
The REPLAY recordings are INCLUDED with your purchase.
They will also be available to post-event purchasers for the same price.
Jan Winhall, M.S.W. P.I.F.O.T. is an author, teacher and seasoned trauma and addiction psychotherapist. She is an Educational Partner and Course Developer with the Polyvagal Institute where she offers a training program based on her book Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, Routledge 2021. Completion of all three levels leads students to become Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Facilitators. Her new book, 20 Embodied Practices for Healing Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model, published by Norton, is available for preorder and out in March 2025. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto and a Certifying Co-Ordinator with the International Focusing Institute. Jan is Co-Director of the Borden Street Clinic where she supervises graduate students. She enjoys teaching all over the world.
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